October 27, 2009

That was fast. One year after being sacked from Tottenham, Juande Ramos has again left out his new club CSKA.

"I didn't get the sack because of the loss against FC Moscow. I had told the club that I was not planning to extend my expiring contract, and that's the reason for my dismissal," said Ramos to Marca.

"I did not want to stay in Russia, so they had to find a new coach. The technical director found a replacement who wanted to start the job right away and that was not a problem for me. I'm fine with my departure."Goal.com

I guess he just couldn't get along without the London nightclubs and Galactico egos of the big leagues. Or maybe it was the cold dreariness.

Now, there are many different ways to analyze this, but here at Backwards Pass, we choose to pursue the moral low ground. Germany and their the baby-stealing national team have always been noted for the mixed heritages of their players, in a rather controversial way. In the last Euro 2008, five players were foreign born, including:

They may not be as bad as Sven Goran Money Burns Holes in My Pants' singular efforts to deMexify the Mexican national team, but Germany's finest players, notably Klose and Podolski, made it an objective to play for Das Mudderland. If FIFA regulations had been different, then maybe Poland would have been runners up in the past two World Cups. Most likely not, but still the argument even existing serves the purpose.

Anyhow, JJ is a fine player. He's no Podolski, and thankfully not a Kuranyi, but he would be a no-brainer starter if he should wear the Red, White, and Bloo to South Africa. In fact, the picture I nabbed is from 6 months in the future. He got the tattoo on his arm after the USA knocked out Germany in double overtime to win their first ever World Cup.

October 19, 2009

So lately debate has been stirring up over whether or not Scottish Premier League giants Celtic and Rangers should join their southern counterparts in the Premier League. It seems more and more people are contemplating the move, for both it's financial and tactical merits. The biggest argument though is the obvious one that the Old Firm needs new competition. Since the SPL's current formation of 12 clubs starting in 1998, no club outside of the Old Firm has won the league.

Any of them under the age of 30 have never known anything but the pair of them dominating everything in Scotland.

To the men who run the clubs, though, the growing lack of interest and the alarming drop in income that comes with it is always someone else's fault.

They've genuinely convinced themselves that there's nothing wrong with their own product, it's the opposition that stinks."

The odd thing is that everyone seems to be disregarding this as rubbish talk that just pops up when there's nothing important or pertinent at the moment, but for any Rangers or Celtic fan, it's hard not to stop and think about it. And as an English fan, it definitely isn't hard to see the Old Firm adding a higher level of competition to the Premier League that would bring a much needed change to the big four format.

Of course, the SPL and just about everybody else in the north don't like the prospect of losing the two largest bread makers of the league. Sure it would give other clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts, who have been challenging in the recent past, a chance to place higher than third. But losing out on sponsorships, Setenta TV revenue, and continental interest would too greatly affect everybody else.

It's kind of a tragedy of the commons. The Old Firm know that they can generate better competition and revenue elsewhere, whether it's in the EPL or in a new structured "Atlantic League". Despite this one player's belief, I really don't see the rest of the Scottish competition catching up. And with the rate that the rest of Europe's greatest clubs are climbing higher and higher on top of the endless mounds of money, Celtic and Rangers need a push in that direction so that they don't get left behind by Europe's 2nd rate teams.

There's just too much talk that Celtic and Rangers won't be doing as well this year in the continent as expected. Sure Rangers have some stiff competition, but as the champions of SPL, they need to be at the level. No excuses. Celtic's performances in recent years have been great in the Champions League, but they have to be there every year. Just the same, there's no excuses for Europa League. If they lose this Thursday's tie at home against Hamburg, then you know that the Celtic board will be taking this silly talk a lot more seriously.

October 15, 2009

Where it's like someone is just following you around, deleting all of your linked match highlight videos?

Stop, Hammer time. A serious note for once.

National teams. Why do we have them? Things like the World Cup. I would like to ask, what purpose do they serve? Other than the seemingly obvious of putting them up on a shelf, next to your dusty bookends and picture frames, and thinking they provide a purpose like a piggybank for storing your dreams. Watching and supporting a national team is self-emaciating, and yet self-serving. It is the drug you abuse, knowing it can lift you up to the highest highs, and in 90 minutes bring you down by your bloody and banged up knees. And just like any other red blooded human being, supporting a country is a sub-conscious twitch that has to be released. Do you know what tourette's guy looks like suppressed?

And that's him unleashed. Anyways, I am just trying to say, from now until next summer, I'm going to be a bottled up explosion, like a shaken up and kicked around cheap beer waiting for an innocent idiot to open me up. When your country gets eliminated by Slovakia or Ghana in group play, it'll happen to you too. Frothing, foaming, crying all over the place. Hate me as much as you hate yourself, the disappointment makes it so much sweeter. Only, we'll just do it again and again every four years.

October 13, 2009

Breaking news is spreading like wildfire, Charlie Davies was just involved in a horrible car accident.

"U.S. national team forward Charlie Davies had several broken bones and a lacerated bladder after a one-vehicle accident Tuesday in which another person was killed.

Davies underwent several hours of surgery at Washington Hospital Center Medstar, where he was listed in serious but stable condition. The injuries make it unlikely Davis will play in next year's World Cup.

"The car was pretty much split in half," Schlosser said, according to The Washington Post.

Davies was airlifted to the hospital after the accident, where a team of doctors first repaired the ruptured bladder and then inserted titanium rods in both broken leg bones. A statement released by USSF said the procedure was performed "with no complications." (soccernet)

Both legs broken, facial fractures, lacerated bladder.

This is absolutely bad news for the USMNT that just qualified for the World Cup days ago. With one qualifier left, the bigger question is whether or not Davies will be fit next summer. With the World Cup set to start 8 months from now, the recovery and rehab involved for injuries this significant do not present a good situation for Davies.

This is heartbreaking. Davies was a big part of the US shock in the Confed Cup, and he recently helped inject confidence into the national side, who could really use his talent and potential.

UF put up a great article, about the man's manager. Arguably the "greatest manager England never had." Along with epic sidekick Peter Taylor, he put Derby and Nottingham Forest on the map, in a time when managers did more than put names next to dots and arrows.

"Knowing how to extract the best from his players, he was frequently dictatorial, finding that fire and fury were the best motivators." - UF

October 8, 2009

October 6, 2009

A singular report coming from Goal.com has it that newboy Karim Benzema has spoken out in a concerned manner over is role at the Bernabeu. Oddly enough, it has Benzema sounding a lot like another known moaner in white.

"Karim Benzema has stunned Real Madrid by stating that he does not want to play up front with Raul and is furious about being constantly substituted during matches, according to a report in Sport."

For one, he does have a point, since they did splash not just a small amount of money on him. On the other hand, he is arguing that he should be favored ahead of Raul? It depends if in the coming weeks we see more reports of rich kid bickering within the Madrid ranks. I am just surprised that it wasn't complaints of CR7 going around comparing sizes in the showers after training.

October 5, 2009

So I don't know if all of this is because of Adebayor's havoc-wreaking goal celebrations, or if it is just a tacky theme through all of football these past couple years, but why do players who've been broken off by their old teams (well, except Adebayor) insist on showing respect and professionalism? Richard Dunne is the latest example, who over the past summer's spending spree, was unglamorously booted from City, after years of loyal servitude in exchange for some greedy mercenaries.

It's more of a reflection of Dunne's character that he did not celebrate the opening goal against is former team, than it is a reflection of the game. It just seems lately that all of this "old team that I bled for, the fans made me leave, Sir Alex didn't say I was his favorite" nonsense is somehow constantly focused around City.

Enough of it, you have every right to celebrate it. Appropriately. No sprinting the length of the field. No restrained celebration. No saying before the match has even begun that you will overly celebrate your goal on purpose and then not even score in the derby.

October 2, 2009

He looks like a lost little boy. I wonder if he carries that expression whenever he is backtracking towards the Barca goal. Whatever it is, those Kickette girls seem to like him. At least he's not as bad as Sergio Ramos' new Bruno look.

God, if only these Spanish defenders were so intense in the act of defending, then I could find this prissyness believable.